About Us – a few things about the Friends of ANZAC Cottage
Story of ANZAC Cottage
We are a group of people passionate about the ANZAC Cottage story. Our work is dedicated to ensuring that this unique story lives on and grows in awareness.
The Friends welcome groups to the Cottage by appointment and are happy to present the story to groups based in their own venues.
A comprehensive educational program is offered to primary schools with a guided tour of the Cottage accompanied by educational activities that correlate to the Australian Curriculum.
We welcome new members to the Friends of ANZAC Cottage.
The Story of ANZAC Cottage
ANZAC Cottage, the first World War I war memorial to be built in Western Australia, is a shining example of how community spirit can enable imaginative projects to succeed and illustrates the respect and honour held by ‘those back home’ for those who fought in the Gallipoli campaign.
The project to erect the Cottage was initiated by the Mount Hawthorn Progress Association in December 1915:
“Mount Hawthorn is going to do something big – it is going to erect a monument- a monument to the honor [sic] and glorious memory of those gallant and fearless representatives of Australia who brought imperishable renown to this young nation…”
Made possible by an outpouring of donations of money from the community, willing donations of building materials and generous voluntary commitments of skills and hard work by tradesmen and labourers, the construction of this memorial was conducted with great fanfare and ceremony.
Saturday, January 29th, 1916 saw an army of 30 men, all armed with saws and axes, working all day to clear the block of trees and shrubs in readiness for the building.
The next Saturday, February 5th, 1916, saw an amazing parade comprised of 70 drays all laden with the building materials, building tools and even some of the furnishing for the house wend its way from the centre of Perth out to the block in Kalgoorlie Street, where the memorial was to be constructed.
At 4:30am, on Saturday, February 12th, alerted by the town crier, 200 men assembled at the block and began the task of constructing ANZAC Cottage. By sundown that day the neat little brick and tile Cottage was built.
Private Porter
ANZAC Cottage was deemed by the Mount Hawthorn Progress Association to be a ‘practical memorial’ and served two purposes, as a place of commemoration for those who lost their lives at Gallipoli and as a home for a returned wounded soldier and his family.
Private John Porter was the first returned wounded soldier to live in Mount Hawthorn and it was decided that ANZAC Cottage would be given to him and his young family.
One of those who took his place in the attack on April 25 and who has returned to us disabled for life is Private John Porter, and it is intended that the monument to be erected should take the form of a home for Mr. Porter and his wife and child, which will be called “Anzac Cottage,” in memory of the new name the Australians and New Zealanders placed on the map of the world.
Private Porter was a member of the famous 11th Battalion C Company and took part in the historic landing at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. He was wounded on that first day and subsequently invalided back to Western Australia.
Private Porter and his family lived in ANZAC Cottage until the 1960s and descendants still maintain a close connection and involvement with the Cottage as members of the Friends of ANZAC Cottage.
ANZAC Cottage Today
ANZAC Cottage still stands proudly over a century after its construction. Today the Cottage is a museum with displays, photographs and documents telling its unique story. Tributes to the men and women who built the Cottage and the Porter family (the original inhabitants of the Cottage) reveal some of the fascinating details of this imaginative project.
The Cottage is open to the public on the second Wednesday of each month and on commemorative occasions such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day.
The Friends of ANZAC Cottage is pleased to open the Cottage for group visits and/or to tell the ANZAC Cottage story to off-site groups.
The Friends of ANZAC Cottage also acknowledges the contribution of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia (WA Branch Inc). This organisation under the leadership of former presidents Peter Ramsay BEM and Rob Cox OAM took on the daunting task of restoring the Cottage to its original condition when it fell into disrepair in the 1980s and early 1990s. The restoration began in 1992 and was completed in 2002, this achievement being marked with a rededication ceremony. The present VVAAWA Executive Committee still uses the Cottage for its monthly meetings.